A team of specialists from the University of Tübingen and Ural Federal University looked into how sleep affects how fear memories are formed and consolidated within one's long-term memory. According to SciTechDaily, neuroscientists found that short naps boost memory for distressful and disturbing events. However, similar memory enhancements were also seen after certain wakefulness periods.
Such findings can help create methodologies for rehabilitation among individuals who have gone through the emotional trauma that resulted from military operations, violent actions, or natural catastrophes.
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Sleep and Its Memory Impacts
The study was included in the Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience journal.
The process of memory consolidation refers to transferring memory from the short-term into the long-term. This process usually takes place when one sleeps. According to Eurekalert, various studies revealed that sleeping after learning something may lead to more positive outcomes than staying awake passively. It happens by reactivating significant memories, which can also be seen in dreams.
These positive outcomes of sleep can be observed even years after. However, before this study, no other researchers focused on the effects of sleep on fear memory. The specific study focused on what happens to fear memories after certain sleep and wakefulness durations.
According to study author Yuri Pavlov, it is important to know how sleep affects situations where emotional trauma occurs to develop effective coping strategies for those dealing with PTSD, panic, and the aftermath of disasters. He also mentions how if they find out that sleep's effect on fear memory is similar to that of other memory types, it may be more helpful for victims to stay awake after the emotional trauma.
Through their experiments, the researchers found that taking a daytime nap worth two hours strengthens fear memories learned right before sleeping. However, similar impacts were noted after wakefulness. More specifically, watching a movie or playing an emotionally gray computer game boosts fear memories.
Daytime Sleeping Enhances Fear Memories
Before and after they slept, the study participants experienced a paradigm for fear conditioning. First, they heard a neutral tone. This tone was consistently paired with a loud noise. On the other hand, a different tone never got paired with a loud sound.
After several pairings, the neutral stimulus led to a strong emotional reaction. This comparison of noise and the other tone enabled the researchers to look into neural processes that underlie learning fear. They discovered that fear learning neural hallmarks were boosted after one took a nap and equally boosted after a little rest.
The scientists are now moving forward to a clinical setup, where they are thinking of testing patients who are left in a vegetative as well as a slightly conscious state. They want to see how sleep will impact their anxiety levels and fear memory formation.
According to SciTechDaily, the researchers also note that it is important to study the impact of longer sleep durations further.
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